1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording tape cartridge in which a single reel around which a recording tape such as a magnetic tape is wound is rotatably accommodated.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an external recording medium of a computer or the like, a recording tape such as a magnetic tape is used. For the recording tape, a recording tape cartridge requiring a small housing space at the time of storage and housing a single reel around which a recording tape capable of recording a large amount of information is wound is employed.
An opening is formed in a case of the recording tape cartridge. From the opening, a recording tape is pulled and is wound around a take-up reel on a drive apparatus side. To prevent dusts and the like from invading from the opening and being adhered onto the recording tape, various devices are made conventionally (refer to, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-148179), Patent Document 2 (JP-A No. 2000-11591), and Patent Document 3 (JP-A No. 11-273304).
As shown in FIG. 11, in a recording tape cartridge 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1, an opening 104 is formed in a side wall 102A (side wall along the case loading direction A) of a case 102. The opening 104 is closed by a door 106 sliding in the loading direction.
In the position of the opening 104, however, an operation member of the drive apparatus for pulling a leader pin 108 as a leader member attached at an end of a magnetic tape T as the recording tape has to pull the leader pin 108 from a side of the case 102 in wraparound manner. Consequently, a space in which the operation member moves in wraparound manner has to be assured on the drive apparatus, and a mechanism for moving the operation member in wraparound manner is complicated so that the drive apparatus becomes large. From another aspect, the path of pulling the magnetic tape T with respect to a take-up reel 110 is long.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, in a recording tape cartridge 112 described in Patent Document 2, an opening 116 is formed in a front face wall 114A (front face wall facing in the case loading direction A) of a case 114. The opening 116 is closed by a swing door 118 which swings around a spindle.
In the recording tape cartridge 112, the opening 116 is formed in the front face wall 114A, so that it is unnecessary to move the operation member of the drive apparatus from the side in wraparound manner to pull the magnetic tape T. However, since the door 118 opens largely to the outer side, a space has to be assured on the drive apparatus so as not to disturb the opening operation of the door 118. This increases the size of the drive apparatus.
Further, as shown in FIG. 13, in a recording tape cartridge 120 described in Patent Document 3, a corner portion of a case 122 is notched, thereby forming an opening 124. The opening 124 is directly closed and opened with a leader block 126 as a leader member to which an end of the magnetic tape T is connected.
If the leader block 126 functions only as a door for closing the opening 124, there is no problem even if the leader block 126 is scratched or becomes dirty. However, the leader block 126 is pulled to the operation member and is fit in a hub 130 of a take-up reel 128 on the drive apparatus. Consequently, if the leader block 126 is scratched or becomes dirty, it is feared that the leader block 126 is not fit in the hub 130 well and an adverse influence is exerted on travel of the magnetic tape T. Since the leader block 126 serves as a part of a take-up face around which the magnetic take T is wound, it is feared that data recorded on the magnetic tape T is damaged or an unrecordable region occurs in the magnetic tape T due to the scratch or dirt.
Further, since the leader block 126 is just retained by the periphery of the opening 124, if the case 122 drops, the leader block 126 may come off. In addition, the leader block 126 is larger than a leader pin, so that another constraint is added to the shape of the case 122.